Sweets
by TheKingdomKeyblade
Summary: In which Juvia is confused by Gray's sudden change in behaviors... Gruvia one-shot


Juvia could see him changing.

It was natural that she would notice it first. She watched Gray constantly, her conscious yearning for something she wanted so desperately. At first, the changes were subtle; his hair was less wild, as if he were paying slightly more attention to the way he looked; when he was lost in thought, he looked less lost and more at peace; he was spending more time thinking and less time talking.

Juvia would watch him quietly from across the guild hall. She would silently wonder if she was the only one who noticed the changes in the ice mage. Even the air around him became relaxed.

The changes became more apparent as time went on. Gray seemed to grow disinterested in the idea of fighting Natsu, much to the dragon slayer's dismay. In fact, Gray became much more interested in conversation; specifically with the women around him. Juvia watched in envy as he listened intently to the things they said, and she would often find him at the bar late into the night talking with Mira. The idea of Gray hanging around all these women made Juvia incredibly uncomfortable, but Gray's happiness came before anything, so she kept to herself as she usually did.

The most striking difference occurred about a month after Juvia began seeing him change. When Juvia left the guild hall late at night, she would walk beside the river, her hands dancing as she played with the water. She would watch as the liquid moved and flowed to her will. These were her alone moments, sometimes her favorite moments of the day; it was just her and the element that made up her very being, and something about that was very personal to her.

That night, however, Juvia was in particularly low spirits, having spent the whole night watching Gray interact with Mira and Erza at the bar. Lucy and Natsu were off on a mission, so the guild hall was quiet for once, and Juvia hadn't been able to bear watching her unrequited love so focused on another woman's words. He seemed to hang onto every single one of them, and she remembered wishing he would look at her like that just _once_.

So she left the guild hall, unable to watch anymore. Juvia stopped on the way home and bought herself something sweet to try and ease her broken pieces, wondering silently how water could be broken.

Juvia stopped halfway back to the dorm, feeling defeated and tired. The moon was high in the sky as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, silently breathing in the night air and trying to mend her heart.

When she gained her composure, she sighed, looking to the river by her side. Juvia dropped to her knees beside the rock wall between her and the water, willing it up and into the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes again as the feeling comforted her, although she knew if she didn't find some way to lift her spirits slightly, it was going to rain. Juvia _hated_ when it rained.

"Hey, Juvia."

Her chest nearly exploded at the voice she recognized so easily, opening her eyes. Juvia turned her head slightly to see Gray standing a few feet away from her, looking down at the water in her palm.

For a moment, he took her breath away. Gray was shirtless, but this didn't affect her, for Gray was always shirtless. Why caught her attention was the way he watched the liquid dance at her fingers.

Gray was in _awe_. Gray was in awe of _Juvia_.

Naturally, because this had never happened before and the look on his face was so very angelic, she thought maybe something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Gray?" Juvia forced her voice to stay steady. Gray seemed to snap out of a trance, suddenly casting his eyes on the woman of water. Juvia felt herself begin to blush immediately, but she somehow managed to remain calm, despite the breathtaking smile her gave her moments later.

"Of course," Gray spoke. "I just thought maybe you'd like company on your walk home."

Juvia cracked. She smiled widely at Gray, feeling some odd form of excitement begin to course through her body. Adrenaline ran wild within her, and it gave her a confidence she didn't know she could ever have, while simultaneously feeling like a nervous wreck. He'd caught her off guard, and his cool disposition wasn't helping her at all.

"S-Sure," Juvia managed. "Unless it's a bother," she immediately followed. "Juvia doesn't want you to go out of the way if you don't want to."

Gray gave her a small chuckle, offering his hand to help her up. "If it was a bother, I wouldn't have offered."

Juvia could only manage a sheepish smile as she touched his fingers at first, and then his palm, feeling Gray's firm grip as he pulled the water mage to her feet. Juvia all but forgot about the possibility of it raining, dusting herself off as she picked up the bag with her sweets. Gray took it from her without a word, and Juvia felt his fingers again as he brushed against her waist in the act of pulling the bag from her hands.

They walked in silence, and although Juvia's heart was racing every single moment of the few minutes it took, it was a beautiful silence. Gray walked her up to the entrance of the dorm, right up to the point he couldn't cross. Juvia turned to him, nervously playing with one of the buttons on her coat.

"Oh," Gray handed her the bag, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is yours."

Juvia nodded, biting her lip. "Juvia wants to thank you for walking her home," she spoke, feeling tense. She reached into the bag and brought out a piece of saltwater taffy, placing it slowly in his palm. "It's vanilla."

Juvia's nervousness took over her in that moment, feeling as if she might have made a mistake. She looked down at her feet. "Goodnight," Juvia said, abruptly reaching for the door handle and nearly throwing herself inside, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Gray on the doorstep.

Juvia's heart was pounding, and she suddenly wanted to kick herself for acting like a fool in front of the man she felt so strongly for.

After that night, Juvia noticed that Gray seemed to be popping up almost everywhere she went. He would be walking to the guild hall and he'd pass her dorm just as she was leaving, so they could walk together. During the days, he seemed to even gravitate towards her. He would always leave the guild hall at night right after her, so he would walk her home. Even when Juvia was at the store, he would sometimes pop in, looking for this and that and bumping into her.

It wasn't as if Juvia didn't enjoy the time with Gray. In fact, it was quite the opposite; she was over the moon with happiness that Gray wanted to spend time with her, and she almost didn't wanna question it in fear he'd disappear and go back to hardly noticing her. Juvia was absolutely terrified she could go back to being nothing but an afterthought at any moment, but still, curiosity got her in the end.

"Gray?" Juvia spoke quietly, looking up at the moon as he walked her home for the third time that week. She felt Gray look at her, but she kept her eyes trained on the sky, forcing her mouth to form the words. "Why did you suddenly decide to start spending time with Juvia?"

Gray didn't answer her at first, shifting the bag he held in his left hand. "Well," he said, slowly. "It wasn't exactly all of a sudden."

The water mage frowned, still watching the moon. "Juvia is confused."

Gray rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, shrugging. Juvia wasn't used to this side of him... Could she possibly have him _flustered_? The mere thought had Juvia's pulse rising.

"I started..." Gray started speaking again, his voice careful and his eyes on his feet as Juvia tilted her head to watch him. "I started thinking about you a lot," he admitted. "You started appearing in my dreams, and, well, I wanted to know..." he trailed off, his voice lowering. "I wanted to find out if the version I had of you in my dreams was at all like the real you."

Juvia's body was almost out of control as she felt herself trying to melt into the ground. Was Gray actually saying these things, or was she dreaming?

"I started talking to the other women in the guild," Gray continued, his voice lacking that collected inflection Juvia was so accustomed to. "I wanted to know what your schedule was like and how to approach this whole thing and it took a lot of pep talks and determination but I finally managed to start spending time with you."

Gray was visibly blushing, and Juvia was so warm she thought she was going to evaporate right into the air.

"Well," Juvia managed. "Is real Juvia like dream Juvia?"

Gray was embarrassed, doing everything he could to avoid her eyes. "No," he said, to Juvia's surprise. "Dream Juvia is no where near as wonderful as the real Juvia."

Juvia almost squeaked in joy, but somehow managed to keep her cool. They had reached the girls dorm at this point. Gray watched her nervously, and for the first time since the conversation began, they locked eyes. Juvia felt her body waver, but something about the way his presence radiated the cold of ice magic made her stay solid.

"Here," Gray nervously pressed a piece of vanilla taffy into her hand, having produced it from the bag he held. "Something sweet, right?"

Juvia nodded slightly, still holding his gaze. Gray gave a timid smile, and all at once turned, nervously walking away from the dorm. She watched his back as he moved into the night, the taffy becoming warm in her palm. Juvia grinned to herself, thinking of how long she'd watched the man she'd been pining after.

Juvia noticed Gray changing, and she couldn't be happier for it.


End file.
